Fastener for meeting-rails of sashes



(No Model.)

T. E. WARDWELL. 'FASTENER FOR MEETING RAILS 0F 'SASHES.

' No. 528,883. I Patented Nov. 6, 1894.,

WITNESSES Tm: mums rirzhs ca. Pnorouma. WASHINGTON n. c.

NHE TATES f ATENT FFEQE FASTENER FOR MEETING-RAILS OF SASHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 528,833, dated November6, 1894.

Application filed March 26,1894. Serial No. 505,060. (No model) T atwhom, it may concern-z Be it known that I, THEODORE E. WARD- WELL, acitizen of the United States, residing at Stamford, in the county ofFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fasteners for Window-Sashes; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention has for its object to produce a fastener for meeting railsof sashes which shall be simple in construction, inexpensive to produce,not liable to get out of repair, so constructed as to be out of the wayof a screen, which will look by a simple downward movement of the arm,will draw the sashes tightly together by oscillation of an eccentric andwhich while perfectly secure against tampering from the outside will bereleased by a spring when areverse movement of "the finger piece ismade.

With these ends in view I have devised the novel construction of whichthe following description in connection with the accompanying drawingsis a specification, numbers being used to designate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a plan View illustrating my novel fastener in use the partsbeing in the locked position, but the eccentric not having been turnedto draw the sashes together; Fig. 2, an inverted plan View correspondingwith Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an inverted plan view after the eccentric has beenturned; Fig. 4:,

a side elevation corresponding with Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a section on theline was in Figs. 1 and 2 showing, however, a modification in the shapeof the case, the arm in this form being locked in an inclined position,and Fig. 6 is an elevation of the shaft, locking catch, disk and fingerpiece detached.

1 denotes the lower rail of the upper sash, 2 the upper rail of thelower sash, and 3 a plate adapted to be secured to raill and havinghinged thereto a locking arm 4 which is provided at its outer end withan opening 5 adapted to receive the locking catch presently to bedescribed.

6 denotes a spring lying under the locking arm the action of which is tothrow the locking arm to the raised position as soon as it is released,and 7 a housing which is adapted to be secured to rail 2 and whichcarries the locking mechanism.

8 denotes a shaft, 9 a locking catch, 10 a disk which is provided on itsperimeter with a shoulder 11, and 12 a finger piece. These parts are allpreferably cast in one piece.

In assembling the shaft is passed down through a slot 24 in the top ofthe housing the disk resting upon the housing.

13 denotes a portion of the shaft which is made angular and carries aneccentric 14 which is'held in position against a shoulder 15 on theshaft by a nut 16.

17 denotes a plunger the outer end of which passes through an opening 18in the housing and the forward end of which is provided with a crosspiece 19 having a shoulder 20.

Eccentric 14 is provided with a shoulder 21 which engages shoulderthereby preventing the cross piece from dropping out after the parts areassembled.

22 denotes a spring surrounding the'plunger, one end of which bearsagainst the housing, the other against the cross piece, the action ofwhich is to force the cross piece forward and keep shoulder 20 inengagement with shoulder 21.

23 is astop on the housing which is adapted to be engaged by shoulder 11on the disk and serves as a fulcrum when the locking catch is pressedback to release the locking arm. This stop is also engaged by the fingerpiece when the latter is turned as in Fig. 3 to draw the sashestogether.

The operation is as follows In Figs. 1 and 2 the locking arm has beenpressed down to the locking position, the locking being automatic. Whenthe locking arm is pressed down locking catch 9 passes into opening 5.Continued pressure. upon the locking arm causes the latter to ride downthe incline of the catch spring 22 yielding and the shaft movingbackward in slot 24 in the housing, until the entire catch has passedthrough the opening when the spring will again force the locking catch,shaft, eccentric, &c., forward as in Fig. 5, so that the locking arm isheld firmly in the locked position and the power of spring 22 is exertedto draw the sashes together, it being obvious from Fig. 5 that the innerend of the spring must act to draw rail 1 outward and the outer end ofsaid spring must act to force rail 2 inward. In order to prevent thepossibility of tampering from the outer side the shaft, eccentric anddisk may be given a partial rotation by means of the finger piece untilthe latter is in engagement with stop 23. This changes the parts fromthe position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5 to the position shown in Fig.3. Spring 22 is compressed between the cross piece and the wall of thehousing until it is solid as in Fig. 3. In this position of the partsthere is no yield whatever of any part. The rails of the sashes aredrawn close together and are locked positively thus making it impossibleto wedge the sashes apart. In order to unlock it is first necessary togive the tinger piece shaft, eccentric and locking catch a partialrevolutionthat is, from the position shown in Fig.3 to the positionshown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5. This, however, still leaves the lockingarm locked in the housing as the locking catch is so shaped as to engageand hold the locking arm in any position to which it may be turned andnot release it until moved backward out of engagement. To unlock thelocking arm the operator now presses back the finger piece moving itfrom the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, to the position shownin dotted lines, the disk and finger piece acting as a lever and stop 23serving as the fulcrum therefor. This movement carries the locking catchbackward in opening 5 so that the locking arm is released and spring 6will at once act to throw it to the raised position as indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 5. When the operator releases his hand from thefinger piece it at once returns to the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4and 5, that is,

a position in which locking takes place automatically as soon as thelocking arm is pressed down.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination with alocking arm having an opening 5, of a housing having a slot 24, a shaftpassing through said slot and carrying a locking catch adapted to engagethe opening in the locking arm and an eccentric 14, and a springactuated plunger carrying a cross piece engaging the eccentric, rotationof said shaft and eccentric acting to draw the sashes together and tocompress the spring,

2. The combination with a locking arm having an opening 5, of ahousinghaving a slot 24, a shaft passing through said slot and'carrying alocking catch adapted to engage the opening in the locking arm and aneccentric within the casing having a shoulder 21 and a spring actuatedplunger having a cross piece provided with a shoulder 20 which engagesshoulder 21 whereby the parts are held in posi-tion.

3. The combination with a locking arm having an opening 5, of a housinghaving a slot 21 and astop 23,21 shaft passing through said slot andcarrying a locking catch, a disk '10 having a shoulder 11, a fingerpiece, and an eccentric within the housing, and a spring actuatedplunger which bears against the cocentric and acts to force the shaftand looking catch to thelocking position.

In testimong whereof Iaffix mys'ignature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE E. WARDW ELL.

Witnesses:

A. M. WOOSTER, S. V. RICHARDSON.

